Following a hugely successful maiden outing, Nigerian Breweries Plc has kicked off the second edition of the Maltina Teacher of-the Year competition with prize money of N50 million up for grabs. The initiative powered by Nigeria Breweries/Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust is aimed at rewarding outstanding teachers in secondary schools pan Nigeria. Unlike the first edition which featured only teachers in public schools, the scope of this year’s edition has been expanded to also include teachers in privately- owned secondary schools.
According to the company’s Corporate Affairs Adviser, Mr. Kufre Ekanem, the quality of the 2015 winner gave the organisers enough impetus to believe that teachers in the nation’s public schools can match their counterparts in the private schools. “Mrs. Rose Nkemdilim Obi, the 2015 winner turned out to be a good testimony,” he said.
Already entry for the competition has opened and collection of applications will last till 30th June 2016. Interested teachers are advised to download application forms from the Maltina website -www.maltina-nigeria.com. Applications forms should be completed and uploaded to the website or sent by email tomaltinateacheroftheyear@
All eligible applications will be subjected to intense selection and judging process. Ekanem said: “Our external and independent panel of judges will ensure transparency, credibility and objectivity of the initiative. The five step evaluation process of the entries received will result in 37 champions (one per state and the FCT), subject to entries meeting the cut off mark set by the panel of judges. From amongst these state champions, the Maltina Teacher of the Year 2016 will emerge. All state champions and winners will be celebrated and rewarded in a grand ceremony on October 12 2016 in commemoration of World Teachers Day.
Ekanem informed the media that each state champion would get N500, 000 and the Top 10 teachers will be recognized before the grand winners are announced. The 2nd and 1st runners-up will receive trophies and an additional N750, 000 and N1, 000, 000 respectively. The Maltina Teacher of the Year 2016 will get an additional N1,000,000 instantly plus N1,000,000 every year for the next five years, a development training opportunity abroad and a block of classrooms built at the school where he/she teaches.
“It is our hope that through the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative, we can inspire this nation to accord our teachers their deserved credit and bring back respect to the teaching profession in Nigeria. As partners for development, we call on all education stakeholders and solicit your support, our friends in the media, towards the success of this initiative,” he averred.
Also speaking at the occasion, Mr. Victor Famuyibo, Nigerian Breweries’ Human Resources Director affirmed that the initiative was aimed at promoting excellence in the teaching profession, and equally aids the development of teaching.
Speaking earlier, Mrs. Rose Nkemdilim Obi, the 2015 Maltina Teacher of the Year disclosed that the award had opened several doors for her and thanked Nigerian Breweries and Maltina for the celebrating teachers and teaching profession. “Teaching is my passion. I love teaching. I enjoy my profession as a teacher, even though I have been getting a lot of tempting calls to leave,” she said. Obi, who is equally a daughter of a teacher, teaches Mathematics and Chemistry at the Federal Government Girls College, FGGC Onitsha.
The year 2000 graduate of Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Anambra State beat nine other finalists to the coveted prize.
Felix Ohiwerei is a former Chairman and CEO of the leading beverage conglomerate which has been operating in Nigeria since 1946. The Trust Fund was established in 1994, with a seed capital of N100 million, to contribute to the development of educational sector in the country.
Over the years, the company has used the fund to assist over 20,000 students, built over 250 classrooms and 22 libraries in both primary and secondary schools across 49 communities in the country.
